A Marauders Novel
by XxWingedangelxX
Summary: Talia-Rose never intended to fall in love; but Sirius Black has other plans. The Triwizard tournaments's coming, and Talia needs all her resources to get through her years of Hogwarts. Sirius/OC
1. Chapter One

**C**HAPTER **O**NE

**O**FF **T**HE **S**TAIRS

_I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints-Sinners are much more fun_

_Billy Joel_

**Part One**

"Talia-Rose."

"Sir?"

"Be quiet."

The rest of the great hall laughed as the young teen grinned, while trying to look abashed, at the aged headmaster who gave a characteristic nod and cleared his throat for silence.

"Yeah, shut up Talia!" James mock whispered, and Sirius snorted laughter. Remus just rolled his eyes, but even those four had soon hushed, for it wasn't often that assemblies were called for the whole school, mere weeks after they'd all arrived back from holiday.

"Firstly, I must start off by addressing the student body as a whole to say that a congratulation is most certainly in order. What fine young students you are, to keep such concentration leading up to your most important exams, whilst you have other things of which I dare say distract you." Another laugh rippled through the hall as his eyes rested on the four marauders at the centre of Gryffindor table over his half moon spectacles for, of course, he was referring to the incident which involved several unknown persons hauling in twenty-nine chickens from behind Hagrids hut and enchanting them to breath-fire. All 29 were found, and all 29 were numbered, 1 to 15 and 17 to 30, leaving only one _number _missing. The chickens were all accounted for. Of course, the chickens lay siege to the castle in minutes, but were also rounded up by professor Mcgonagall and professor Flitwick in less time, as was to be expected. Still, search for the 16th chicken successfully cancelled lessons for the remainder of the day (all of three and a half lessons), until Minerva Mcgonagall suddenly had the strangest notion to count the chickens left in Hagrids coop.

"27, I'm sure," he said gruffly, when she asked. "there're 27 lef', ma'am."

"And how many, may I ask, did you have yesterday?" she whispered, getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Oh, hem, 56, for sure, professor."

"Ah. I see. Thank you, Hagrid." And with that, she turned on her heel, and the students of Hogwarts School did everything they could to keep in her good graces for at least a solid fortnight.

"However," Professor Dumbledore continued, "I must present a unique and, no doubt, thrilling adventure for you all." The students began murmuring at this: Talia, James Sirius and Remus just looked at each other, seeds of waywardness spreading their roots ever so quickly in their mischievous minds. "It is my honour to invite you all to the most time honoured event in schooling History, into which you will no doubt fling one of our bravest and brightest to face dangers unknown to any who sit before me " he raised his hand dramatically at this point to dispel the clamour that had arisen, the excitement exploding from those who evidently knew what was about to be revealed-two of which were James Potter and Sirius Black.

"Oh, Merlin." They both whispered in unison, as Talia, hating as always to ever not know something that two of her best friends did, shot looks at them. They caught her and Remus' eyes and whispered at the same time as Dumbledore announced:

"The Triwizard Tournament." Talia, being muggle rose, had only an inkling of what this meant-the same thing that anything meant to the four best friends: Fun.

**Part Two**

"Bloody hell, and I thought he was announcing his engagement to Mcgonagall at last." James commented as the Four Friends scaled the moving stairs discussing the previous events. Talia saw James glancing down below him more than once, as the entire school thronged around them to get back to their dorms, and was about to ask just what he was planning when they reached the top of one staircase, still on the move. Talia and Remus stopped short, but to their complete astonishment, James gave Sirius a shove off of the end quite unexpectedly into mid-air. The closest floor was two stair cases below, where a group of excited first years were babbling, thinking about anything but a raven haired boy falling out of the sky.

"_Levicorpus!" _James shouted, aiming his wand directly at Sirius, as Sirius' skull was about to crack behind and unfortunate girl. His ankle jerked him upwards, his shirt untucked, and he was left suspended there with his long hair waving around and his flat stomach uncovered, his bag and robes pooled beneath him, as he cursed the thunderous laughter coming two stories above him: the three, and, of course, rest of the school, had stopped to stare. The kids he'd almost fell on backed away uncertainly; the girls stared at his exposed flesh and giggled; but worst of all were the boys from the older years and Talia, all screaming with laughter.

"James, you bloody git-I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" He roared, flicking his wand with the counter curse and thumping to the floor.

Through the multitude of laughter, he could clearly hear his roommates in hale of breath.

"Uh-oh..." was all that escaped James Potter before racing up the stairs, shoving whoever it took to get to the porthole before dying a very gruesome death. He'd raced all of two staircases shy of the Gryffindor porthole before Sirius caught him up: after all, James was designed to be fast on a broom, not on his feet. They both tumbled down the entire flight of stairs before landing in a group of students who scattered, laughing good heartedly, to let the pair brawl, as both Remus and Talia collapsed with laughter at the poor boy being beaten up by-

"BLACK. POTTER. Get _up _off of the floor this _instant._"

"Uh-professor-I, huh, didn't mean-"

"To accidentally fall a flight of stairs and repeatedly connect your fist with Mr Potters ribs? Yes, I do fin that I re-occurring problem myself, Mr Black. Be that as it may, I think a week's worth of detention would do you _both _good."

"Yes, professor." They both chorused, hanging their heads to professor Mcgonagall like two chastised little boys, waiting till her emerald green robes had disappeared through a door three flights below to continue chasing each other back into the common room.


	2. Interlude One

**A**B **I**NITIO

THE FALCONERS FOOT

_When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy-  
>In the company of strangers ; In the quiet of the railway station running scared<em>

_Simon and Garfunkel_

**P**ART **O**NE

Talia-Rose generally didn't run into walls; but this was a different matter all together.

"Jeremy, I'm...not sure about this." She supplied, as her brother led her towards Kings Cross station.

"I know, I know. Just give it a try, you know? Trust me; you won't want to come back." He gave a smile which she thought looked a little bit sad, drawn out. Of course, _of course _she'd want to come home. Even after their Mom died, and they were left to fend for themselves, her home had been and always would be her sanctuary.

Talia shook her head at her brother, thinking him mad for suggesting such a thing, and sighed heavily, clutching at the falcon perched in his cage, gazing up at her with his large, golden eyes. Nerves roiled deep within her stomach, springing from the fear of a friendless school life-much like her current life-or failure at magical studies itself. Joke of the School, she imagined herself running back to her brother, 9 years her senior, all too soon, and fixed her eyes on her late birthday present.

"Ah, Ic, you're gonna have to keep me amused. Bring me rats to eat."She cooed to the bird, who clicked his beak and beat his wings in front of him, before settling back down and ruffling his feathers up.

"You'll be fine-and _don't _forget to stay on the professors good side- it won't do you any good otherwise, girl."

"Yeah, yeah, you did tell me. Is the food good, Jer?" Her brother split a grin as they entered the multitude of people rushing for trains at Kings Cross, stopping just short of platform 9.

"It's _excellent._ Now. You'd better, ah, go." He handed the small girl with dark hair and large eyes her suitcase, and gave her a warm bear hug. Emotional good-byes weren't either of their specialities, but they embraced for a while longer than usual, and Talia felt her heart aching for her brother that had kept her safe all these years.

"Have a good one!" He called after his sister, and the grin that flashed across her face to cover her nerves was the last thing he saw before she disappeared through the brick wall he'd only stopped going through three years ago.

**P**ART **T**WO

"I said get _off _Regulus! For Merlin's sake, I'm not leaving forever!" Sirius Black exclaimed, prying his brother off of him and giving his father one final handshake before departing to the bright red train on platform 9 ¾.

"See you at Christmas, son." His father told him, and Sirius nodded, running a hand through his already unruly locks and turned to heave his luggage onto the train.  
>"<em>Ouch!" <em>Sirius turned on his heel, leaning in the doorway of the train on his suitcase to see what he'd already done.

"Oh-ah, sorry..." He was about to say more when he looked up at the striking young girl standing before him; there was no doubt in his mind that she was muggle born, and an image suddenly popped to mind of his mother screaming at him for befriending such a person, but he couldn't help himself.

"Sirius Black, at your service, ma'am." He stuck out his hand, flicking his head to the right to get the fringe out of his eyes and grinning what he thought was his most dazzling grin.

"My foot, you _idiot._ I-"  
>"And who might you be, may I ask?" He spoke with false formality, grinning all the while, completely aware of the sharp-beaked-wide-eyed falcon clicking its tongue at him, not so unlike the girl herself.<p>

The girl, taking no time to miss the train who's whistle had already blown, huffed and took no time in dragging her suitcase and expensive looking falcon after her as she ran to another entrance, while calling over her shoulder;

"_Not _that it's any of your business, short-stuff, but Talia-Rose!"

Sirius' grins slipped from his face at the mention of his height (or lack of it), and he sighed, sinking into a state of temporary thoughtfulness.

"Well, nice to meet you, too, Talia Rose."


	3. Chapter Two

Hey, just a small message and a big shout out!

Shout out to **pure russian princess** for my first review much appreciated, this one's for you.

Small message=

Whoa, Cool-so there are my first three chapters; just thought I'd give you a few keys. So-Ab initio? It's kind of like an interlude every other chapter. Actually, It _is _and interlude every other chapter, don't worry, you'll see soon enough if you haven't already. _Ab initio_-it means "from the beginning" in Latin

Secondly-as you will have seen, there are a few alterations to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, just thought I'd tell you the extent of the if you're interested.

No Peter Pettigrew. I dislike him.

I have stolen the Triwizard tournament-thought it might add a splice.

Some of my facts may be wrong or purposely changed; deal.

Dumbledore's headmaster at this time, not sure if he was in that era.

There will be no Author's Notes. I dislike them. This would have been one, but I love you guys, and so am not horrid :D

So-Enjoy, and please review x

**C**HAPTER **T**WO

**G**IRLS, **G**RINS **A**ND **G**UYS

_Beauty is power; a smile is its sword_

_John Ray_

**P**ART **O**NE

"God, your handwritings awful."

"Shut it, Rose."

"Make me, titch."

"Guys. _Both _of you shut it." James Potter told them as Talia and Sirius traded insults.

"And anyway," Sirius continued, jumping down the last seven stairs, "I'm taller than you." He grinned smugly, his devilishly handsome features creasing with his smile, standing facing his fellow marauders with his hands on his hips.

"And my _name," _Talia implored, knocking his shoulder as she strode into the great hall, "is _Talia_."

The Hall was already packed with students mulling around the goblet which had been placed there the previous night, after Dumbledore had announced the coming together of three schools into the Triwizard tournament.

"Durmstrang!" He announced, as Deazlour and his many boys marched into the room, with a procession of loud noises and shouts, entirely unnecessary, as far as Talia was concerned. The marauders raised their eyes at each other, unsuccessfully hiding their grins; they'd have a lot of fun with _them. _Easy bait.

"LeSoir!" He announced, when these boys had settled on the tables laid out for them, and the door of the great hall burst open once again. This time, a whole host of students walked in, dressed in gold fineries cut sleekly to their bodies, be they whatever shape or size. They began looking around apprehensively as soon as they came in, and Talia looked one particular boy up and down, adopting her queen-of-school slouch and silky smile that enticed too many.

"Mm-mmm. I would." The Gryffindor girls laughed and grinned at her, nodding their approval and giving her conspiratorial winks. Talia grinned back, turning back to the table of food and grabbing a handful of éclairs as the rest of the student body watched the pretty students of LeSoir take their seats at the front of the class. She didn't see the blonde-haired guy, only a year older than the marauders themselves, looking at her with a small smile playing on his lips and his friends elbows nudging his ribs, and both were completely oblivious of a certain clenched-jaw-and-balled-fisted raven haired marauder.

**P**ART **T**WO

Sirius Black was in a bad mood. Talia had announced seconds earlier to the surrounding students a _minor _interest in a most unattractive guy, to whom Sirius eyed darkly, and already the stupid boy had it in his head that she was interested. Still, Sirius Black had to play along. Lady killers didn't just simply fall to their knees over a simple crush, he kept reminding himself. They sucked it up and _dealt. _Still, as he leaned against the back of his chair and propped one elbow on the back of his chair, a _little _game couldn't hurt-not at all.

A cute girl with sandy blonde hair stumbled past at that particular moment, caught up in the mass of bodies moving to the front of the hall to kneel before the headmaster.

"That, ah, won't be necessary, Déodat. Your formalities shall be a discomfort to you here, on our stone floors." Dumbledore smiled and embraced the French Headmaster, and so was the hall filled that night, followed by too many speeches and performances, the entirety of which Sirius spent trying-and succeeding-to throw his fox smile to the blonde girl, and make Talia see. Not that he was trying to make her jealous or anything, no, not at all. Nothing like that. Sirius Orion Black did _not _fall in love. But then again, neither did Talia-Rose.

**P**ART **T**HREE

"Strange," James mock frowned, as the four marauders came up behind Lucious Malfoy placing his name in the cup, "I could have sworn Dumbledore said 'our _best_ and _brightest_'."

His friends laughed at Lucious, who, not unlike his son in years to come, was barely comforted by the two brawny oafs who stood beside him and cracked their knuckles threateningly.

"I dare say you'll have a harder time getting your name in that cup than I, then, Potter." He spat, turning on his heel to have the last word. A moment of silence followed this, followed by laughter from the rest of the hall, led by Talia. She'd learnt long ago that showing whoever you're talking to that you just don't give a shit will make them feel smaller than any words could. Words just built things up; anger, hatred, revulsion. Smaller things were easier to handle.

The four looked at each other, only Remus characteristically rolling his eyes, having being forced by way of tickling to enter his name into the goblet of fire, James with a glint of longing in his eyes, and Talia and Sirius with identical glints of deviousness in their eyes.

"Here's to plans well executed, and results well endulged." Sirius said grinning up at the blue flame and placing in his piece of parchment, a flame that roared red as the other three did similar.

"Here's to the Marauders." They grinned, reaching up and dropping in their similar pieces of parchment. The students of Hogwarts applauded the four as they grinned and even Dumbledore, tucking into his breakfast at the teachers table gave a smile and nod to them, whilst McGonagall simple pursed her lips even tighter. All three schools dined separately; the great hall wasn't large enough to house them all comfortably, but as the four were bounding down to an appetising breakfast, just over a dozen students entered the great hall, laughing good-naturedly around one blonde-hair-blue-eyes-French-model boy.

Talia's smile slipped into wickedness: there was a reason she'd ran this school with these boys at her side for half a decade.

Brushing his hand on the way down, she arched her eyebrows and lowered her eyes, creating an air of disinterest, making him stop on his way up the steps and open his mouth as if he were about to say something, while his friends still egged him to put his piece of parchment into the goblet. The boy, Pierre, however, couldn't take his eyes off of the girl walking past him, and stumbled up the final stair. People snickered, but Pierre laughed it off, in case Talia had seen. She had. But only Sirius and Remus could now see the triumphant smirk on her face, and only Sirius felt sick.


	4. Interlude Two

**A**B **I**NITIO

**T**ALL **T**ALES

_Yet each man kills the thing he loves_

_Bye each let this be heard_

_Some do it with a bitter look_

_Some with a flattering word_

_The coward does it with a kiss_

_The brave man with a sword._

_Oscar Wilde_

**P**ART **O**NE

"Watch it!" An all too familiar voice snapped as Severus slammed the door behind him, and Sirius' head snapped up. Sure enough, Talia-Rose was yanking open the door to his compartment and backing into, trying to hush her falcon, currently screeching at said greasy haired boy and ginger girl. Succeeding in doing so, Talia turned around and-

"Of all the luck..." She muttered frowning at Sirius, turning to leave again as the train lurched forward.

"Turns out, all the other carriages are full, Rose." He told her, although this wasn't strictly true, and James gave him a quizzical look. He patted the seat next to him, and she had no choice but to fling her trunk up top and sit down on the chair. However, she placed the placated falcon down next to Sirius and sat down next to James.

"I'm surprised you can stand to be away from your family for a second, Black, seeing the way they coddle you. I suppose that's why you're so short; never done anything character _building_." Talia supplied, and Sirius grinned. James just looked between the two, eyebrows steepled.

"Perhaps," he replied, trying to counter something that was absolutely not true, "but I didn't see _your _parents anywhere. Clearly, unloved." He said it as a joke, but at the look on her face, he frowned.

"That would be," she stood up, whipping out her wand and pointing it at his face; James just sat there, too stunned for words, the falcon screeched highly, "because they're dead." And with that, she whipped her wand up and Sirius hissed an intake of breath.

She was out of the compartment before he could say another word-his jaw hanged open, but his hand traced the cut she'd left there, not too deep, but, it would seem, enough to scar, a memento only an inch long, running from the top of his left hand cheek bone to the bottom, near the edge of his face.

"Nice goin', mate." James made a cringing face, and Sirius mimicked it.

"Yeah. Maybe not so great. Look-I better go see if, ah, she's-okay."

"Ya think?"

**P**ART **T**WO

Sirius found her in an empty compartment on with a table and chairs instead of plush chairs which lined the walls. She was rocking back on one, arms crossed over her chest as she stared out of the window.

Sirius cleared his throat. _Merlin, and I hope this cut makes me look pitiful. _

As it was, it made him look _something, _because she looked up at him with a slightly defeated expression.

"Sorry-about that." She then looked at anything but his face, still oozing droplets of blood. "Here." She tossed a napkin from the table at him, and he cleared up the thin line of blood trickling idly down his face like tears.

"I-uh-didn't know. So. I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if he'd heard those words from his mouth in his entire life, and yet this girl strung them from him like a fisherman catching a dumb fish with their shiny bait.

Her eyebrows rose, just once, in a gesture which Sirius interoperated as "I'm forgiving you just because this is awkward," before she settled into staring out of the window again, and Sirius had a moment to appreciate the long, dark brown hair piled atop her head carelessly, yet with the elegance of one whose face carries any hair style, and a body, though he wouldn't notice it until later, that complimented any combination of clothes.

"My parents are dead, too." He blurted, and then really, really wish he hadn't. But the twists of fate fell in his direction, for she seemed to relax slightly, and give a frowning smile.

"But I saw them-that man, and your brother?"

"Mmm." Came the reply, as he leant against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

"When I was young, they were playing quidditch on out home pitch-in our back yard." Spinning this like he'd seen his father spin stories to him and his brother when they were young. "And-and one of my uncles, well, he was rumoured to be the best quidditch player _ever._ In school, he was captain of the quidditch team since his fifth year, and easily the best at the school at the time. But, well, my father argued that _he _was the best quidditch player, because he wasn't at Hogwarts at the same time as my uncle. Uncle Cygnus." He picked up a seat and spun it round, resting his forearms over the back ad leaning forward towards a smiling-but-trying-to-hide-it Talia. Embaressment was forgotten, and, apparently, so would his earlier comment if he carried on.

"Any way. These quidditch matches-well, they're really like tournaments, at our house. All of my family comes over, and it's taken very, very seriously. So, when one team loses, it's not taken too lightly. Until they're all off their head pissed the next night, of course." He grinned, then continued. "So, well, my dad had a, er, broken foot at the time, so he couldn't walk or fly on the broom-"

"Why didn't h go to St. Mungo's? My brother said that's the wizard hospital, and can fix broken bones, because he broke his arm once, and came back and hour later with it all fixed up." Smugly, young Talia arched her eyebrows at Sirius.

"Yes, well," he countered, as if he were waiting for her to ask so that he could explain, "He didn't like St Mungo's. Said-said he didn't want to get run fall in the ravine on his way because, you know, you have to rope swing across it to get there."  
>"No you don't." Completely ignoring this and nodding as if recalling such an event happening, Sirius continued.<br>"Anyway, as I was saying, he couldn't fly, but had a pair of extra strong binoculars, so said he'd referee for them. Anyway, my mum's side of the family were against my dads, and my uncle Cygnus was on my mum's side. The game was real close, my mum's team only winning by ten points, but it didn't matter, because the snitch was let out, and Uncle Cygnus saw it. Now, I told you he was good: and he was, but as luck would have it, or wouldn't, it was really, _really _dark by this time; they'd been playing for hours. So he just couldn't see much-only that seeker from the other team, my Aunt Lucretia, was just catching up with the snitch. So he followed her and, as the snitch came closer to the ground, they were neck and neck. And then two things happened at once," and to his delight, Talia rested her chair and leaned forward, still smiling slightly, head cocked to the side with an adorable smile. "Firstly, Aunt Lucretia caught the top of broomstick on a bush, and was flung off it into the pond. Secondly, my Uncle launched himself off of his broomstick and straight at snitch, landing face first in the pond also, but with the snitch in his hands." Sirius grinned triumphantly, adopting an air of someone who'd just won a quidditch game. "And he came up, my uncle, and everyone cheered, and they all landed and helped the two out the pond, and the losing team all gathered round my dad, to announce officially the winners, and he got them all round, with my uncle grinning at him and said 'The winners are my Team!' and it was just dead quiet, like. He told them that my Uncle had clearly hexed Aunt Lucretia, and so everyone just muttered-but that's not all!" He leaned further even more at the smiling girl with eyes he was becoming hypnotised by.

"My Uncle, he said, 'You', he said, 'are a _liar_. And if I _ever _see you again, I'll kill you.' And so he left, 'cus he had no wife or kids, and they never saw each other again for ages and ages and ages."

"How long? Surely they'd hav calmed down by the next time they saw each other." Talia quizzed.

"Ah-yes, well, at least, damn, at least, erm, eight years. Yeah. And then, after eight years, both their sons went to school, and they waved them both off at the train station, and just as the train was about to leave, they saw each other. And my Uncle shouted the killing curse at my dad, and he died." Sirius trailed off lamely, but Talia was laughing all the same, slouching in her chair instead of rigid with anger.

"And I suppose that _you _were the son he came to wave off, then?"  
>"Naturally." He grinned.<p>

"But I thought you said your uncle didn't have a son."  
>"Ah-he married, and his wife had a son."<p>

"Ah. But that means it must have happened when we were there."

"It did."

"So...I just, you know, happened to miss a killing curse on a platform where I was standing because..."

"Because _I_ was talking to you, and you couldn't take your eyes off of my devilishly handsome face, of course."

"Mmm. Of course."

They grinned at each other, and didn't often talk of family after that.


	5. Chapter Three

**C**APTER **T**HREE

**A** **M**ISUNDERSTANDING

_Come live in my heart, and pay no rent.__  
><em>_Samuel Lover_

**P**ART **O**NE

"So what's up with you and Pierre, then?" Lilly grinned as she quizzed Talia, both lying upside down on their facing beds and sucking on sugar quills.

"mm nd sore." She took the quill out of her mouth. "I'm not sure." She repeated, "I mean, he's cool, and all that, but-I dunno. There's just something-something like, like when I'm with him, I just can't be _bothered, _you know?"

"Oh, yeah, stringing boys along is _such _hard work, I'm sure."

"Shut it, Lils," Talia scoffed jokingly "as if you couldn't if you didn't want to, don't act jealous. Any boy would be lucky to have you, and you know it."

"Why, Rose, are you coming on to me?" Both girls laughed, the friends in their dorm still in the common room.

"It's just confidence-Merlin, never thought I'd sound that philosophical. But you know what I mean- I play the ultimate hard to get, the whole shebang. And guys hate that-they want to know that they can drop you at any time if they want. If you start going out with them and they already think they're gonna lose you, they're gonna go out of their way to keep you." Talia turned onto her front and mock glared at Lily. "And _don't _call me Rose."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Only Black gets to call you that." Talia rolled her eyes and just flopped back onto her back.

"And what's _up _with you guys, anyway? Still not going out with him?" Lily pressed, not that she hadn't breeched this subject one hundred times before.

"Oh yeah, hadn't you noticed?" Talia rolled her eyes again and grabbed another sugar quill from the floor, a sudden uneasy feeling roiling in her stomach. "He's my best friend, Lils. I don't _fancy _him, and in case you're blind, he hardly needs a hand with his love life."  
>"Maybe, but can't you <em>see? <em>He's just like you! He's the Lady Killer of the school, you're-"

"The whore of the school?" Talia laughed.

"_No_. But you know what I mean. You both have a more," here she cleared her throat disapprovingly, "_practical _abuse of the rules. You're both avoiding a proper relationship because you know that your one _true love _lies with one another!" She finished dramatically, standing up on her bed in her flannel pyjamas, grasping one hand to her heart and thrusting the other into the air like she was having an epiphany. Both girls burst into loud guffaws and shrieks of laughter.

When this subsided, and the girls were laying face up on Lily's bed, having retrieved their sugar quills and wiping away their tears, Talia sighed.

"I don't know, he just-he's changed, lately. He's not the same, he's not as-" Talia was careful to mention that he wasn't as playful when they'd transformed into animagus anymore, "-as happy." She finished lamely, but suddenly realised it was the truth. He didn't laugh as often as he used to, and he'd grin, but lose it when he saw her, quite a lot of the time. Was it-could it be, he...hated her? She didn't realise, until Lily said "Oh, Talia." gently, that a tear had escaped and she scrubbed her hand over her face and sat up.  
>"Sorry." She muttered, as lily rubbed her back. She wasn't an emotional girl-when she got hurt, when people said stuff, when she failed an exam-but when it came to the marauders, she'd throw herself in front of a train (which, coincidentally, had happened on one occasion, but that's another story) or break down and cry, which ever the situation called for. And now-although, when reflecting, it would seem appropriately crazy-she actually <em>believed <em>that her most beloved marauder hated her; it didn't bear thinking about. So she didn't

"Come on- let's go down to the common room. I need some butter beer." She checked herself in the mirror, ran a hand through her silky dark hair, made sure there was no red around her large, dark eyes and flashed a grin at herself, settling it into a foxy smirk and winking at herself. _Deal, girl. _

"Come on, Ic, time for a walk." She let the beautiful falcon-a present from her brother-out and onto her shoulder, picking up a treat and feeding it to him.

**P**ART **T**WO

"So what's up with you and Pierre, then?" Sirius asked, in the most off handed way he could manage- which was clearly not enough so that James turned round and gave Sirius a how-can-you-not-hear-the-jealousy-in-your-voice look, which Sirius plainly ignored and flicked his wand at the picture of a toucan in front of him, roughly drawn by Talia, ad it ruffled it's very real wings right before him a few moments later.

"Oh, well done, Mr Black, ten points to Gryffindor for the first successful transformation!" Mcgonagall praised him, and carried on her way. Talia, not to be out done, quickly sketched a fully maned lion with sharp looking teeth, and flicked her wand. The class was henceforth dismissed.

"So-"

"Nothing." Talia snapped as Sirius tried once again to broach the subject once again.

"Right." They walked in silence for the next few minutes, the halls empty save for their two pairs of feet, walking to kill half an hour before their next lesson which wasn't with James or Remus.

"Are you-okay?"  
>"Yep."<p>

"Ah. Right. It's just, you kind of seem pissed off with me, and I don't recall that I've done anything." Sirius awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as Talis shoved her hands deep inside the pockets of her robes and carried on walking, out into the semi open of the shaded courtyard.

"I'm fine."

"Right. It's just-you're not. So, you wanna, erm, talk about it?"

"If I wanted to talk about, I would've already, don't you think?"

"What the-"

"Don't even _ask _me what's up, idiot!" Talia shrieked, really, really becoming concerned about where all this anger was coming from. "What's up with me? What's up with you! You, you won't _give up _until you've beaten me in class these days, what the hell's that about? And you won't smile at me; you just get into one of your bloody _moods _whenever I'm around! _Don't _look at me like that." She finished quietly, as his face contorted and briefly took on the mask of a guilty conscience. It vanished like vapour, though, and the next thing Talia knew he was shouting right back at her, and her throat was closing with an emotion that hadn't hit her in a long time-probably because Sirius and her never fought. Not ever. Not since their first encounter on the train, and her heart began to beat faster.

She could hear him running after her as she turned on her heel and stalked away, blinking rapidly and clenching her fists to try and get into her head that that she _would not _cry, let alone in front of Sirius, not again. She felt his hand grip her upper arm.

"What's _up with_ you?" He whispered, bringing his face close to hers, his brows furrowing.

"I _know." _She whispered back, unable to look him in the eyes. She still managed to see the way his face drain of colour, though, and the hand on her arm loosen, which just backed what she thought she knew in her heart.

"Why?" she whispered, and when Sirius let go of her completely and rubbed the back of his neck again, she took this as conformation.

"So it's true, then?" she demanded.

"Talia, I-I didn't-I couldn't help it-"

Talia choked on her own tears which she'd been holding back until she didn't have to face this beautiful boy who'd ripped down her walls and built them up from the inside, only to obliterate them at his will.

She gave him a look of utmost contempt-when in fact the only thing she wanted to do was run up and wrap her arms around him like she used to, when it was all so much easier than this.

Instead, she turned away, with the understanding that Sirius Orion Black hated her.

Sirius Orion Black stood alone in the courtyard with the understanding that Talia Rose found out that he loved her-and had just rejected him.

Neither slept well that night.


	6. Interlude Three

**A**B **I**NITIO

**F**IRST **Y**EAR **F**ANCIES

_Oh, this is how it starts_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting hat proclaimed, and Sirius whooped with the first true sense of elation he'd felt since the same had been called out for him. Talia gave him and James a grin and hopped down from the stool with an elegant leap, landing gracefully on the stone floor, completely unaware of McGonagall's raised eyebrows. She ruffled James' hair on the way past and plopped down next to him, Sirius nudging her leg under the table and grinning at her as congratulations. 'Rose' wasn't actually Talia's surname, just her double barrelled name. When she told McGonagall quietly before the Sorting, Lily Evans, a girl who'd helped Talia with her luggage, piped up.

"She can be sorted after me, ma'am." She smiled sweetly at the teacher, who just nodded and moved Talia's name on the list. And so it was that Talia came to be sorted before one dirty blond, scruffy haired boy who tripped up the stairs when he went to be sorted. People sniggered and laughed, and there was sustainably less applause when '_Gryffindor!' _was called out. Now Talia was pureblood, but she didn't know it, so she was more reluctant to speak out against a sea of pure wizards. James and Sirius had no such concerns, seeing as there was nothing more he could do to piss his family off. Screaming and whooping, they welcomed Remus Lupin to the Gryffindor table and never looked back. Talia just smiled at James and Sirius, admiring them greatly for the first, and certainly not last, time. Sirius just caught it as she looked away, but even the tail end of it was enough to catch his heart on fire.

"I still think," said James, shovelling mashed potatoes into his mouth as he spoke, "that we should have rigged the banners on the left side with dung bombs. See then, we'd've only got the Slytherins." In reality, James was spewing potato and gravy everywhere, and his speech was slurred, but the trio listening had heard him say such things several times after the sorting was finished, and so interpreted as such.

"Sure, mate. Then we'd get the blame for _everything _that we're gonna do, wouldn't we? All the pranks we're gonna pull." Sirius told him offhandedly, as Remus shot them a troubled look. James just looked up from his meal in awe.

"All the-"

"Pranks, mate, y' know-"

"_yeah, _I know what you meant!" James laughed and cawed at the same time, high fiving a grinning Sirius. Talia smiled, realising that maybe, just maybe, this year wouldn't be so bad.

No, she thought, as the main course disappeared and the most appetising desserts she'd ever laid eyes on appeared in their place. Not so bad at all.

_Lightning strikes the heart_

It was when Sirius was sprawled out on the sofa next to the fire, when James and Remus were in the dorm, that Talia broke up with her first boyfriend. She scowled into the common room and was just striding past the couch when Sirius stuck out an arm which hooked around her waist, and dragged her, complaining and wiggling, face up onto his lap.

"What's up?" he asked her, holding her down, the top of her back on his lap, her head up against the arm, her legs curled into the remainder of the two-man sofa. She growled at him and tried to push him off her, but although slight, Sirius was strong and laced his fingers with one of her hands, resting his other across the one nearest to him.

"Get off, titch." Ouch.

"Make me, Rose."

"My _name_," she hissed, trying to no avail to shove his arms off her, "is Talia!"

"Didn't see you complain yesterday." He commented, and to his surprise, she stopped flailing and slumped to look at the burning fire with a small sigh. She gave a slight hum of agreement which Sirius interpreted as _Yesterday was a world away_, and let h come out with it in her own time. He didn't think he'd have to wait two hours, with Talia curled up onto his lap, one hand absentmindedly twined over hers, his other arm resting on the arm of the chair.

"Jason broke up with me." She told him detachedly, one arm hugging his knees into her face. Sirius responded the only way he knew how.

"He's a prick."

"Mm."

"Forget him."  
>"I will."<p>

"I'm serious."  
>"I know." He could feel her smiling into his leg. She was feeling better, he hoped, and with that thought, the thought of Talia being slightly happier because of him, he let a smile play on his face, and they slept on the couch that night. His heart moved in a way which he didn't know it could-especially since he didn't know he <em>had <em>one, since this girl ran into his life.

_It goes off like a gun_

"WHAT?" James exclaimed, spreading his hands and then clenching them into fists at his side.

"Er, yeah, well," Talia cleared her throat, wishing that Remus and Sirius and James wouldn't stare at her like that, "well-it just kind of hap-"

"-Just kind of happened? These things don't _just kind of happen._ What the hell did you do? Did you hex him?"

"It's because he fancies you. Reynart, I mean. He's the-_your _captain, isn't he?" Remus lied quietly, smiling slightly as James and Sirius dropped their jaws in unison.

"What?" Sirius hissed, lean body tensed up, although only Remus noticed.

"No, he doesn't." Talia dismissed, but Remus laughed.

"You can't be serious-he's seventh year!" was James' response, but Remus just shook his head.

"He's sixth year. And yeah, it is a bit weird." Remus agreed, wanting to laugh at their identically protective faces "Still. Congratulations, Talia. I think James and Sirius would congratulate you, but they're too jealous." Remus grinned at her, and she guiltily smiled back, ducking under James and Sirius' arms and holding them round the waste.

"Don't worry boys. I'm sure you'll get in the Quidditch team soon enough, you know, if you become ten times better in the next seven years." She didn't waste time in shrieking laughter and sprining out of the great hall, where she'd first told her friends that by some freak coincidence, the captain of the quidditch team had caught her standing on her broom to acquire some plants, growing on a tree for her friends first project of the year; veritaserum. It wouldn't have been much to ring her into the team before tryouts even, but she was 80 feet in the air, her wand in her bag in case she fell and snapped it, and barefooted. Reynart had to drag her to McGonagall, because otherwise he'd have absolutely no excuse to haul a first year into his predominantly seventh year team. She'd have a hard time. He thought which proved to be absolutely true, until she caught the snitch in hand by launching herself off of her broomstick and seizing it halfway between hr thoroughly confused broom and the opposition's highest goal posts, the game ending 280 to 10, with Talia Rose hanging for dear life onto the goals. She became a legend in her own time before Sirius became a lady killer, which would follow soon after a thirst to prove himself worthy of this girl, who dropped into his life.

_Brighter than the sun._

Review? Pretty please? ;)


	7. Chapter Four

**C**HAPTER **F**OUR

**S**IBLINGS **C**ONSULT

_Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds._

_William Shakespeare_

**P**ART **O**NE

"Talia." James sighed as he gathered her up in his arms from the couch in front of the fire, before which she'd been drinking all day long. It was Sunday, and since Friday there had been an energy between her and Sirius which crackled and electrocuted anyone who dared interfere. But Sirius had gone to occupy himself around the grounds, and Talia was alone in the common room. He sighed again.

"Angel. Please tell me what the hell's going on with you two. You're's close as anything, then you won't speak to each other. You guys _never fight._ And-and you know I don't usually talk about this-this stuff," Talia snorted, "_but,_" he pressed on, "you've gotta tell me."

She just moaned and curled into his shoulder, fisting her hands into his polo shirt. He sighed again, pulled her closer with an arm around her waist, an arm round her neck and topped her head with his own. He could feel her breath deeply and then bury her face in his neck.

"_Sirius hates me." _She whispered, clenching her jaw and but relaxing her hands a little. James laughed.

"_What?_" She hissed at him, and he sobered and pulled her into him again, sighing for what felt like the hundredth time.

"_You. _You are mad. Hates you?" He gave out a low chuckle. "Anything _but._" He muttered.

"What the hell are you _talking _about?" But James just shook his head and stood up, much to her surprise, carrying her bridal style and clutching her so she couldn't squirm-much.

"_James! _Let me _go!" _

Nope. As your brother and best mate, I'm sorting this out for you." Realisation of roughly what he was going to do dawned on her.

"NO! James, no, no, _no! _You're not my brother! You have no right!" James kissed the top of her head and laughed quietly.

"Yes I am."

**P**ART **T**WO

"JAMES!" was all Sirius heard before said boy with Talia Rose in his arms strode down to the lake and clutched her more tightly still, for she was wriggling with all her might to keep away from the water. It was a hot day, and she would've paid one hundred galleons to swim in it earlier. But the Le soir and the Durmstrang students were watching. Dignity was worth more.

"Sirius!" James called. "She doesn't know. She thinks you hate her, that's why she's upset." Talia, above being confused at whatever it was she didn't know (which she hated anyway) was thrashing wildly.

"I am _not _upset!"

"_Talia. _He doesn't hate you, you idiot." James whispered despairingly, smiling slightly at her and throwing her into the lake.

Sirius jumped up instantly, hesitating only for a moment to throw James a death glare, and then dived straight in after her. He happened to find her as soon as he'd broken the surface, face first into freezing cold water. He hauled her up, but she refused to be helped and propelled herself further into the depths of the lake. Sirius followed, unsure of what she was doing. They stayed under as long as they could Sirius from sheer embarrassment and Talia from the same, coming above surface too far for the rest of the schools to see them. Spluttering and splashing, Sirius surfaced and searched wildly for her. After all, mermaids weren't known for their mercy.

Smoothly, and shaking her hair out like a dog, Talia surfaced, glaring holes into Sirius for want of something to break the awkward silence.

"_What _the _hell_," she began,

"Was that?" Sirius asked, anger whipping up inside him.

"You ignore me for two days, won't sit _next_ to me, won't s_peak_ to me, won't be _around_ me, and what the hell right've you got to be pissed off at me?" He roared, fully aware of how stupid he must look, soaking wet and in a tantrum.

"What? _What! Me? _Avoiding _you?_ You're the one who freakin' _leaves _whenever I'm there! AND DON'T EVEN THINK," she shrieked, seeing as how he was about to retaliate, "ABOUT-ABOUT-"

"ABOUT WHAT?" He shouted back, getting in her face for the second time in six years. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"Understand _what?_" she hissed at him, shoving him away, but he caught her hands and held them to his chest. "Because it seems to me you and James have this almighty secret you're keeping from me!" She kicked him in the chest and swam away from him.

"We're s'posed to be best friends." She muttered, swimming for the embankment a hundred yards away. It took Sirius a good few seconds to gather himself before he began racing after her; but she was too fast. She was athletic; he was good at quidditch. She could beat him at any sport; he could challenge her in one. She butterflied to the edge, and Sirius was desperate.

"Okay!" He shouted, using her momentary hesitation to clamber up the edge of the muddy slope and grab her hand. "Okay. I just-hate fighting you." He lowered his eyes and, to his surprise, she only pulled her hands away gently. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Wow, thanks Padfoot. Didn't realise your apologies were so heartfelt." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's bec-I mean, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Oka-" he cleared his throat and threw his hands in the air. "Talia. Why are you mad at me?"

"Because you hate me." Sirius choked.

"_What?" _  
>"Because-because you hate me, don't you? You know what? I don't even care. You can go-"<p>

"I _don't hate you_." He cut across her gently, taking her hands again and wrapping them round him. He pulled her into a hug and prayed to whatever god there was that she wouldn't be a girl again and storm off.

"Uh-Sirius..."

"I'm sorry."

She rested her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped her arms around him. Because they were best friends, and best friends don't stay mad at each other, and best friends forgive each other. _And best friends don't keep secrets. _Something at the back of her head whispered.

"What is it?" She asked into his neck, and she could feel him cock his head.

"What's what?"

"What's the big secret?"

There was silence for a long time after that, not broken by Talia only for fear of losing the little control which she still had. At least an hour went by, and then two, then three, all passed in silence as the two ended up dried and curled up in the sun by the lake, separated from the world by a wall of thick trees. She was curled up in Sirius' lap much the same as she was in James', but at least now she felt as if things were back to normal.

He twined her fingers in her hair just behind her ear and held her head to his chest. She could hear his heart beat, to the rhythm of a lazy summer's day, and she sighed contentedly. It was only when the first drops of what would soon be the flood of a lifetime dripped onto Talia's nose, and Sirius kissed it off, that they got up, albeit reluctantly, stretched, and started to make their way back. But the drip-drops of rain soon became a downpour, which soon became a monsoon, and Sirius squeezed Talia's hand which he hadn't dropped for three hours. She tugged on it now, grinning for what seemed like the first time in a lifetime, and started running; not particularly in the direction of the castle, just _anywhere_, she reasoned; Padfoot's here. And so he was, sprinting behind her to keep up; running was one of her specialities. He kept her hand tight, and soon they found themselves dancing in the rain, just outside the great doors of the school, slowly being shut by Filch, the caretaker.  
>"Get <em>in, <em>students! The gates are _closing_." He droned, sourly hoping that they would indeed stay out there and catch their deaths. As it was, two more students rushed past him, and Filches day was a good one.

**P**ART **T**HREE

"Those four-they seem to think they're above any form of school rules, Albus." Minerva Mcgonagall told him as they watched James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Talia-Rose screeching with laughter and careening across the grounds in full view. Strips of light from the great hall fell onto their faces and, in McGonagall's opinion, in Albus couldn't have seen the pure delight of innocent dreams on their face, he may have even called them inside.

As it was, he just smiled at her, and said:

"Leave them be, Minerva, leave them be." And she did. Until curfew, where she hauled them inside, Sirius and James by the scruff of their necks , dumped them in the infirmary and told them that under no circumstances were they to miss the following detention, before reeling off five dates for them all.

**Pleeeease review hope you enjoyed x**


	8. Interlude Four

**A**B **I**NITIO

**B**OYS **B**ROKEN **J**AW

_You're not the person that I once knew, are you scared to let them know that it's you?_

_Hilary Duff_

**P**ART **O**NE

"Hey _Snivellus." _Sirius snapped, in a particularly bad mood. James slumped down on the right of Sirius in the row of four at the back of the classroom, Talia to his left in the middle and Remus on hers. Transfiguration was one of the thoroughly academic sides of classes, the four had decided, and with Professor Mcgonagall watching their every move, they'd decided to lay low in the terms of pranks for a while. And yet Sirius sent a tripping charm at Snape anyway, slamming his chin into the table and making him cry out, tears spilling onto sullen cheeks. The rest of the class didn't laugh, as they saw Sirius slump indifferently in his chair, but by the time Professor McGonagall walked in, Lily, Mary and a couple of guys were around Snape, trying to fix up his swelling tongue and fractured jaw.

Talia sighed, knowing that if she didn't act now, then Sirius wouldn't and that'd land them all in detention.

"Er-oh, sorry, Snape-I didn't mean to, ah..." she feigned guilt, standing up and walking round the desk and scrubbing the back of her neck, pretending only then to catch McGonagall's gaze, and she backed away. The Professor fixed up Snape's jaw with a flick of her wand, and then rounded on Talia in full fury.

"This was _you, _Mrs Rose?" Her gaze rolled over Talia, who'd cleverly pulled out her wand as if she'd just cast something. It grazed over James, didn't even think that it was Remus, and the settled on Sirius, swinging back on two legs of his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, staring defiantly ahead. But Talia could see the cogs working in his head, to get just himself into detention without dragging Talia with him.

"Anything you'd like to share with us, Mr Black?" She asked coldly.

"No. It was me, I just tripped him, bu-"

"That's enough from you, Mrs Rose. You will stay behind after class and I'll discuss punishments then."

"Yes, Professor."

The rest of Transfiguration was passed with Sirius' bad mood dropped, and desperately trying to make it up to Talia, who just slumped into boredom, and agreed with Sirius that she'd forgive him if he shut up. He smiled at her, clasping her hand under the table and squeezing it gently.

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

**P**ART **T**WO

"Ugh. Four days in a row of detentions? She's gotta be kidding me! How am I s'posed to get anything done?"  
>"As if you get anything done anyway, Rose." Sirius barked.<p>

"Ah, true. So what's this-James, what are you doing?" she asked, spotting him with his face pressed to the window, both hands comically up against the glass.

"Uh- guys? You might wanna see this..." Talia had made a permanent residence in the marauders three bed bedroom, after she'd had a particularly nasty fight-as far as fights go between first year girls-and had nowhere else to go. The boys took her in and bunked up extraordinarily comfortably with her, them all pushing their beds together and scouring their room for the tons of Honeydukes they'd recently brought. Talia couldn't think of a better way to end the year.

Regardless, she'd spend, much to Mary and Marlene's distaste (after she'd made up with Lily, she'd never again fallen out with her) the majority of her time with the boys in their room, plotting and scheming. She was there now, hanging off of James' bed, chewing on toffee marshmallows, with Sirius opposite her lounging on the floor against her bed.

"What's up?" He asked James, who'd grabbed Talia by the back of her hoodie and shoved her against the window.

"James-oh. What-what the hell? What's Moony doing out of grounds after curfew without us?" Sirius was beside her in an instant, putting a hand around her waist and pulling her aside slightly so he could see.

"Why has he-what's that on his back?" The three looked at each other momentarily before sitting down on the bed in a triangle, knees touching.

"What if he's sneaking off to see a bird?" Sirius asked, not even convincing himself.

"Remus? A bird? Nah-he won't even go for them yet. Maybe-maybe he's going to...to, erm, go for a swim?" James finished lamely.

"Maybe-maybe we should wait. Follow him, and see where he goes next time he goes out." The boys looked at each other, then back to her, then jumped and fell off the bed when there was knocking at the door and Remus entered.

On seeing the three scrambling around on the floor, Talia would have thought he'd at least be a little bit suspicious-it was three in the morning, they shouldn't still be up and Remus was a sucker for the rules-but he just slumped into bed without pulling off his jumper or jeans. They shared a look, before shoving the stuff on the floor under everyone's bed and switching off the light. Talia curled up on one side of James' bed, her mind whirling about the late night-or early morning-rendezvous her best friend had just been on.

The full moon had completely disappeared by the time they were all asleep.


	9. Chapter Five

**C**HAPTER **F**IVE

**S**TICKS **A**ND **S**TONES **M**AY **B**REAK **M**Y **B**ONES

_Can you lie next to her and confess you love, as well as your folly?_

_Mumford and sons_

PART ONE

"Ugh. Prongs, _save me_." Sirius whined, the first morning they'd been together in a while-clearly McGonagall had structured their detentions accordingly.

"That bad, mate?"  
>"Worse. I only asked her because you know what the Triwizard tournament means."<p>

"The Yule Ball." Remus chimed in, and the three looked at him with their eyebrows raised. "Read about." He grinned, and the others mirrored.

"Exactly. And I thought I'd be able to last a month with her." Sirius groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"Huge mistake."

"I know! I can't even go two seconds without-"

"Sirius!" Marlene screeched across the hall as she entered, flouncing ahead of her group of, in Talia's opinion, brats. She spread her hands across his chest when she reached him, nuzzling his neck, and Talia couldn't fathom why her teeth were grinding. She stopped it at once, just in time to see two of Marlene's roommates sidle up beside her and give her a grin. Sirius, she noted, didn't look as amused as he usually did when he was playing with girls, and she felt something flicker in her stomach. _Get your hands off of him! _She wanted to shout, but Sirius was already peeling her hands off of his chest anyway.

"Marlene." He cut into her elongated gibber.

"And I was thinking, maybe Saturday-"

"_Marlene." _

"_Sirius. _It's rude to interrupt, you know."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," he replied, with mock concern, "but at least I won't ever be interrupting you again. I really, really don't like you, and don't know why I ever went out with you, actually." Talia was sure that Remus and James sitting next to her could feel the shiver that ran through her, and she dug into her meal, acutely aware of the fact that when she looked up again, Sirius was gazing at her with an unreadable expression. And when Marlene left after crying and screaming, he picked up her hand and laid it flat across the table in front of him, pressing his forehead to it so Talia was leant across the table. She felt an odd flush rise in her cheeks, but played it friendly and patted his hair.

"You'll have another girl in a day or two, Pads. She's a high born slut, is all. Come on, I think I need a drink. Hogs Head, anyone?" She said grinning, but James just stared at her with his mouth agape.

"_Talia. _It's _Quidditch practice._ How could you forget?" Remus, Sirius and Talia all laughed at his expression, over exaggerated as always. Still, as captain of the quidditch team, He did have more priorities to name than her.

"Ah. Yeah. Slipped my mind, Prongsie." She gave him a cheeky grin, which he flipped her round the head for.

"Right, well I'm gonna grab my robes," she saw James already had his on, and wondered how she'd forgotten, "and I'll meet you back here in five." Sirius looked like he was about to protest, but thought better of it and nodded, striking up conversation of the Triwizard tournament as she left. Well. And that _was _an odd morning in terms of emotional perplexity.

PART TWO

"Talia! TALIA!" James roared up at her, using his wand to enhance his voice. _Oops, _she thought, remembering that as vice captain, she should probably be helping James drill the little weens trying to get into the team.

"Alright, alright." She muttered, spotting the snitch at that point and deciding to show off a bit. She dove after it, a straight fall to the ground, gripping her broomstick and making an almost vertical line, straight to the sand. There were 'oohs' and 'aahs', and Talia revelled in them as always. She caught the snitch 25 feet in the air, levelling out sharply in quick spin which started with her throwing her weight left and ended with her grasping the broom with her right hand while using her momentum to swing both legs over her broom and fall 20 feet, gold snitch in hand, dark hair mussed up, robes flying and landed with a _thud _on the ground, met by applause and stunned looks and wide grins. She grinned back, winking at James and called her broom down.

Talia didn't realise that she was scanning the stands for Sirius-or that she was scanning the stands at all- until deep brown met calm-before-the-storm grey, and both mouths twitched upwards on one side simultaneously.

"Took you long enough, Rose," James said spinning her round and ruffling her hair to let her know he was joking, and she was about to bite his head off about calling her Rose until he came out with the (not so) infinitly funny and possible moment-the-penny-dropped line of "so stop making lovey eyes at Padfoot and get a fuckin' bludger to throw at some flyers." Well. Ouch. _Didn't see that one coming_.

PART FOUR

This is how they did it.

Talia rode high in the stalls to the edge, four rows in front of which Moony and Padfoot were sitting, both bludgers and quaffle (struggling) in hand. Sirius was sitting out of the first selections because, as he so delicately put it, "I can't be bothered". The candidates for chasers and beaters (Goalie and Seeker were taken, obviously) had to fly around the stadium as fast as they could completing various exercises James shouted. If a bludger headed home, they'd have to dodge, since none had bats, and if the quaffle came, they had to catch it and score in the hoops before Talia counted five. If they made it, ten seconds were deducted off of their final times, along with being able to cut half the pitch to the posts. If they didn't make it, ten would be added. And so this is how two hours were passed, until the final fitness test was done. Four broken ribs, one broken arm, one snapped wrist and a handful of bruises later, James and Talia saw off the last of the candidates and leaned on each other for support.

"Ah, Jamie. I despair, sometimes." Talia said all too theatrically, leaning her elbow on his shoulder and burying her face in it. Drowsiness over swept her faster than the sun was disappearing behind the Forbidden forest, and not a moment too soon she felt strong arms pull her gently away from James and against a solid chest.

She sighed in contentment, not caring at that moment how she could see James shake his head in mock exasperation at her through bleary eyes, or how Remus patted her head, or how Sirius swept her bridal style into his arms. She didn't even catalogue that she really, _really _shouldn't be enjoying this as much as she was, or falling asleep as fast as she was, because how were they going to get her to her dorm if she was asleep?

_It's like being drunk_, she thought amusedly, _enjoy it now, pay the price tomorrow. _

The early morning sun crawled through the window and heated Talia's arm until she self consciously pulled it back-and elbowed something hard but yielding. Said something groaned, and something tightened around her. Oh. _Oh._ _Sirius._ She thought, turning to see that she was indeed right, and that his head was buried in that back of her neck, his arms holding her protectively against his chest. _Ah._ She remembered falling asleep before they'd even reached the common room last night in the cradle of Sirius' arms, but she hadn't cared what would happen at that point, so great was her exhaustion. And now she was blushing furiously, because he was waking up and she still had her back pressed against him, and one hand twined with his and she couldn't move but she couldn't stay. He groaned again, waking up as Talia gave up.

"Mmm."

"Sirius."

"Mmm?"

"What's the time?" Trying to gauge whether he knew what he was doing, she started some insignificant conversation. After all, she'd slept like this with James-but that was...different, somehow. He was her brother-no matter blood. And so was Remus, but Sirius? He should be. She _should _be thinking of him as her brother but-with him, she would always show off just a little bit more, joke with a little bit more, watch a little bit more.

"mdono." He grumbled burying his head deeper into her neck. She groaned; this was going to be impossible, so she sighed, and relaxed into his arms, enjoying it in a way she definitely shouldn't be, lacing both her hands with both of his and dragging them around her to get comfortable, before falling asleep into blissful dreams once again.

When James finally did rip the curtains back to the exclamation of "we've gotta _announce _the team Tal-oh." she could see the grin that spread across his face through cracked open eyes, "I can see _someone _had a good night." He grinned even wider, and she would've hit him but Sirius was positively _growling _behind her, and she'd rather have stayed where she was, thank you very much, feeling his chest rumble against her.

"bup na minat." She moaned, levering herself from the bed and rolling into where there was usually space, but instead falling off the bed completely to three very amused boy, which did _not _improve her mood. Still, after she got up, brushed off and began seeing what she could still wear-her skinny black jeans and white top which she'd previously left in here-she could of sworn she could see a small, small smile gracing Sirius' lips.

**Sorry it took so long! But here it is Hope you enjoy, please REVEIW! x**


	10. Chapter Six

**C**HAPTER **S**IX

**S**ANGUIS **E**T **C**INIS

_It's best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes._

_Anne Baxter_

**P**ART **O**NE

"Oh, my god. It's freezing!" Talia exclaimed , opening the window to what looked like a warm day, but was indeed quite cold. Something hit her face, and she peeled it away, seeing Sirius' Nicest leather jacket in her arms; her eyes widened, and she grinned.

"Thanks, Padfoot." He just waved her off; boys. Shrugging it on, she found it fit not so badly over her white tee and black skinny's, considering Sirius had broader shoulders than her, and a bigger chest. Still, looking at him, his hips were only slightly bigger than hers, his muscular chest flat as he got out of bed-oh, _ah. _She thought. _He slept topless. _Well, and now she was just burning with embarrassment at how she hadn't realised. Her eyes rose up his well defined muscles, until she met eyes which were trying to look amused, but she could swear there was something else beneath them.

"See something you like?" A fox grin, and she was dying inside, blushing furiously. She would have thrown herself out of the window if James and Remus hadn't gone down to breakfast five minutes previous, promising to wait for her to announce the Gryffindor quidditch team. Instead, she snorted.

"You wish." She grinned, flipping him off and shrugging on the jacket. Sirius looked her up and down and then nodded appreciatively.

"Looks good." He grinned, and for a moment, she was lost in his eyes. For a moment, and then another, and then another, as he stepped toward her with the grace of a panther, and she was acutely aware of his hand resting on her hips, and his breath tickling her ear, and _he had no shirt on. _Before he gave her a shove onto his bed and stalked, still topless, out of the door.

"You're in love with me." He proclaimed, and Talia couldn't see his heart beating at a million miles an hour, couldn't feel the heat flush his cheeks at the stupid teasing he'd just done, couldn't feel his stomach drop out of his body to wait for her reaction, and so she assumed he was joking, although her physical reaction mimicked his.

"I _know," _she proclaimed, coming up beside him and grasping his hand. "and maybe on Saturday, we could go to Hogsmead, so I can shop, and then I can do my make up, and then we can do some more shopping-" Sirius laughed and put his arm over her shoulders.  
>"Okay, okay. You're not Marlene, I get it."<p>

"Mmm. I wonder how pissed off McGonagall would be if you walked into the great hall naked."

"You daring me, Rose?"

"You wish."

**P**ART **T**WO

Gods, the ruckus they caused when they walked into the great hall! Topless, together, Talia-Rose and Sirius would be the gossip of Hogwarts for a long time. Durmstrang and Le Soir ate in their own transport, but they'd still hear, even if the rumours were more about what was to come.

"Talia! Here!" James roared, above the three dozen students he narrowed it down to, from which they'd pick only four; two beaters and two Chasers, because of _course _Sirius would be a seeker-all the glory there, since he was content letting Talia have the win.

They split to let her through, and she jumped onto the bench next to James. The whole hall was quiet, then. The students, because their hierarchy were making an announcement, and the teachers because Sirius was topless, and they were deciding what to do.

"The Team who're going to win this year's Quidditch cup," Talia shouted (although her whispering would have been heard) was met with outraged out cries from the Slytherins, but general laughter and good natured calls from the other two tables, "will be as follows! James Potter; Captain and Keeper. Me; Vice Captain and Seeker. Sirius Black; Chaser. Harry Mitchell; Chaser. Requin Tannen; Chaser. Hannah Bellamy; Beater. Simon Darstring; Beater." Applause went up, and the Marauders took seats at the head of the table, after dealing with more than one complaint.

"Well, that went better than I expected." James commented.

"And a fine show you made of it, Mr Potter." McGonagall cut in icily, having descended from the teachers table.  
>"Ah, Professor, I-"<p>

"No excuses Potter. Pull something like that again and you'll be having another months worth of detentions." She turned to go, and James looked outraged.

"How come she never picks on you!" He gaped at Talia, and she just grinned.

"Er, because I'm the best there very was at Transfiguration?" It was her bad luck that McGonagall happened to hear this.

"Is that _so, _Mrs Rose?" Talia cringed, but she _was _magically gifted, so to speak, excelling without effort in every class, along with her three friends.

"Basically true, professor." She grinned cheekily, which she instantly regretted.

"Well, then, you wouldn't mind showing us all, would you?"  
>Talia broke a sweat, but managed a grin all the same. What spell could McGonagall give her that she didn't already know? She was a sixth year; but the four had all studied spells way beyond seventh, and McGonagall wouldn't exactly ask her to-<p>

"Transfigure something of your choosing into a phoenix, Mrs Rose. That is your task." She gave a thin-lipped smile, and turned with a swish to the teachers table, where they all stared down at her expectantly. Talia would have backed down then-but for two things: they were looking down at her with that look that her rebellious, proud, self righteous, arrogant, _Gryffindor _side just couldn't stand-as if she were a play thing that they could mock and look down, because they could do things she couldn't, and she was just amusing them by failing to do what she should. Like she was stupid. _And she wasn't. _And second? Dumbledore wasn't looking at her like that. He looked as if he wanted to help, but that he didn't have to, because he was looking at her like she could do it. And damn, would she do this to impress him. But-

"It's impossible. No one's ever transfigured something into a phoenix-"

"Yes, they have," said McGonagall, seated now next to Dumbledore, and it clicked.

"Fawks." Talia whispered to the silent hall, all eyes on her, and McGonagall nodded her head. Then Talia looked up at her headmaster, and nearly all of her hope drained; sure, she was clever, but she used her intelligence to outsmart the teachers, which wasn't really very smart at all, and she could never, _ever _be as smart as Dumbledore. And still, her resilience fought inside her, until she raised her chin, and resolved on doing-or-dying.

**P**ART **T**HREE

She scanned the room, and began to think.

Her mind worked not on cogs and wheels, but on people and reactions, and circumstance and moments, and her gut feelings and her whims. Sure, facts were right most of the time. But she was right _all _of the time, and her mind was the one weapon she'd had since her parents had left her.

_Something symbolic. Something average in size. Phoenix. Phoenix. Phoenix._

She chewed her lip and focused and refocused her eyes. In her bird form, she could do this easily, and it had transferred to her human form after some time, so she could focus on minute detain from miles away.

To tell you what went through her mind at this point would take all day, so instead I'll tell you what she did.

_Wood. _But the only things wooden in the hall were the benches, the tables, and the teacher's chairs. Only one she could easily move.

_From the ashes they are born._ It would have to do, and she knew one who would give her his so she could do what he knew she could. So up the stairs she went, around the teachers table as whispers broke out, and stood next to Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, please, could I-please, could I have your chair?" He looked at her over his half moon spectacles as McGonagall gaped at her.

"Absolutely." He smiled, standing up, and gesturing for her to take it. With effort, she dragged it back around, the bulk and weight of the chair beyond her reckoning. Against the flagstone floor, it bumped as Talia should've been thinking how stupid she'd look if this went wrong. But her mind just kept going, processing and remembering and drawing up ideas.

Walking in a circle as people were now pouring into the hall who hadn't already been there, like Durmstrang and Le Soir, and Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were pushing their tables next to Slytherins and Ravenclaws, so all students were mingled at the side of the hall, standing and sitting on tables, as this crazy, ingenious girl drew circles with her wand, and muttered incantations to keep in fire, and Flitwick was becoming worried.

Finally, finally, she'd finished, and a faint gold line formed a circle, 3 meters in diameter, bubbling and falling. People muttered, but Talia was focussed. She pushed the chair next to the circle, and whipped her wand across it once, setting all of it on fire at once. Using her right leg, she kicked it back into the circle, and ran back up to the teachers table and grabbed, almost to Dumbledore's protest, a sharp meat knife. _Blood. Blood and ashes .How much more symbolic do I need to be?_ In actual fact, the spells that she cast made the chair burn doubly as fast, due to an increased level of oxygen within the bubble she'd created, and so ashes piled on the floor when she returned.

She cut the palm of her hand with the knife, and people gasped. Madam Pomfrey was sent for. McGonagall blanched. Flitwick stood by, ready to help. But Talia-Rose was focussed. Removing the spells with hr wand hand, she squeezed her left over the ashes, and poured her blood into something that she shouldn't be able to complete.

"With my blood, I bind you." She whispered, not even knowing herself what was going through her mind.

"And with my heart, I free you." She muttered, pulling up every ounce of self confidence to make this look like she'd actually thought it through.

Next she pulled out her wand, but didn't point it directly at the ashes. Silence ensued, while she just sat on her haunches, looking at the ashes with a vacant expression. People who didn't know her would've thought that she was second guessing herself, but the Marauders, Dumbledore and even McGonagall could see her eyes flickering; the way she collected her thoughts, went through every possible outcome in moments and, in a moment, she gently lay her wand on the pile of ashes, and everyone's eyes widened, leaning forward as a whole. "This is madness!" Karkaroff shouted, making to stride forward, but was stopped by Gryffindors. But it didn't matter; Talia-Rose was focussed.

"Sanguis et cinis." She whispered. Latin wasn't even a magical language in itself, but Talia felt that this was right. If she had any chance, she had it now. _Blood and ashes. _She thought. _Blood and ashes and magic._

And from the ashes, as that last thought left her head, broke a phoenix, more magnificent and more proud than anything she'd ever seen, setting fire to the pile of her life she'd just laid down before it. She couldn't think, didn't want to. She'd thought enough. But the phoenix was flying now, carving a graceful path in the sky of the great hall, trailing fire but dropping nothing. And people were cheering, and people were laughing in relief, and people were astonished. And Talia was definitely not focussed as she fainted, only saved from cracking her head open by Sirius, holding her against him and whispering in her ear things she couldn't hear.

"Helios." She whispered, reaching out a hand for the descending phoenix to land on, and raising her left hand to his face, still dripping with blood. And phoenix tears, she remembered, heal. Her hand closed up, and she brought the phoenix into her arms, and lay back into Sirius', passing out before the whole school crammed around her, and Madam Pomfrey clicked at Sirius to pick her up and carry her to the infirmary, and Dumbledore felt a pride in his heart, which he could see mirrored in McGonagall's. Well. And that girls was special.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Read and review x**


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